ATV fatalities up, but not as much as ATV use

WASHINGTON — Every spring in Utah, all-terrain vehicle fatalities and injuries are reported from family outings that turned tragic. Congress noticed that trend nationally and two years ago ordered a study to see if ATV accidents are getting worse.

The resulting report Thursday from the Government Accountability Office, a research arm of Congress, says it depends on how one looks at the data.

"Injuries and fatalities increased substantially during the last decade, but not as rapidly as the number of ATVs in use, which nearly tripled," it said.

The actual number of fatalities rose by 53 percent between 1999 and 2007 — from 534 to 816, according to the report. But because more people are riding ATVs, the death rate actually decreased from 1.4 deaths per 10,000 ATVs in use in 1999 to 1.1 in 2005, a decrease of 21 percent.

Release of that report comes after ATV accidents over Easter weekend killed two Utah youths. Russell Anderson, 17, was killed while riding in sand dunes near St. George. Zachary Westbrook, 11, was killed in Emery County after an ATV he was riding with a cousin rolled and pinned him.

A year ago, former Rep. Bill Orton, D-Utah, was killed in an ATV accident at Little Sahara sand dunes in Juab County.

Some findings of interest from the new report include:

 Injuries from ATV accidents increased from about 81,800 in 1999 to about 134,900 in 2008, or 65 percent.

 However, in 1999, about 193 injuries occurred per 10,000 ATVs in use, which dropped to 129.7 in 2008, a 33 percent drop.

 About one-fifth of ATV deaths nationally and about a third of the injuries involve children. "Crashes involving children frequently occurred when they rode adult-sized ATVs, which are more difficult for them to handle," the report said.

 Recent GAO undercover checks showed seven of 10 dealers it visited were willing to sell an adult-sized ATV for use by children, even though manufacturers and distributors have agreed to use their best efforts to prevent such sales.

 GAO estimates that the costs of ATV injuries and fatalities more than doubled during the last decade from about $10.7 billion in 1999 to $22.3 billion in 2007 (in 2009 dollars).

The report said that the number of documented ATV fatalities in Utah between 1999 and 2005 was 60, and 19 were youths.